1969: A Great Year, Especially for Cookbooks

When I first came back to Austin, I took a trip down south to Thrift Town. You can probably guess by the name, but it's a second hand shop, not trendy like vintage, but old romance novel and overalls like goodwill. There’s a small book section, and surprisingly, within that, there's a cookbook section. There I discovered a few books that were very old and pretty used, about cooking in different countries. I picked up The Cooking of India and it was love at first sight. Somewhere recently, between leaving Mexican food for a stint in Spain and warming to Spanish food, I learned about Indian food. It's actually what I ate on my last night in Barcelona, before returning to America. You may laugh, but in Texas, and most of America, we just don’t do Indian. I can only remember one time eating Indian out in Austin, and that was post cookbook purchase. My point is, I discovered the Time Life book series of Foods of the World and they have been my obsession ever since. The books are filled with so much information, not just recipes, and vivid, colorful photographs of the land and food and families cooking at home. Just looking at it, you know it's not a recently published book. No crazy gimmicky fonts or modern pictures of minimalist food; it's just India, how I’d like to see it, but fear that it's changed since these photos. And then I look, and yes, there's that little c with a circle around it and the year 1969, so things surely have gone a different way since then. And with all the added elements, the chapters on different regions, minorities in India, vegetarian cuisine, the index of Indian spices, and the bios on the writer and consultant (both from India), I get the feeling it's much more authentic than say, Jamie Oliver's Italy (no hard feelings...I own that book too, cook from it, and love it). But there's no doubt the writers in the Time Life series did their research and really knew their business back in 1969. The problem with my $3.24 book from Thrift Town is that there's an accompanying recipe booklet that has recipes not included in the actual book, and of course, this was not to be found at Thrift Town. I was still delighted with my purchase, and it had all the integral recipes as far as I could tell (mattar pannir, korma). You can order them from Amazon, but it costs more than my book. I decided to hold off, and I was on a mission to keep my eyes open at any chance I might have of encountering more books or recipe booklets. I got lucky one day in San Francisco and happened upon this little store called Cookin' that carries new and used cooking tools, supplies, cookware, books, just about anything relevant to the kitchen. And out of all the books, they had my Cooking of India recipe book for six dollars. Since then, I've seen different ones around new and used book stores, I'm tempted to get The Cooking of China, but first an Indian feast was in order.

I made a few different things, but right now I'm just going to give you the recipe for mattar pannir, probably hands down my favorite Indian dish. Another beauty of this book is it gives you recipes for every little thing, even ghee, which I was too lazy to make, so I bought it. But I did make my own garam masala, according to their recipe, and it was one of the most fragrant, strongest smells I’ve experienced in a while. And it makes a large portion so you have it around for the next time you want to whip up something. I'm going to steal a little bit of their text, giving more information on masalas because there's no use trying to put it into my own words.

"...most dishes are made with the elaborate combinations of freshly ground seasonings called masalas. Garam masala, for example, is a basic blend of dried spices to be used alone or with other seasonings. Other masalas, each devised to suit a particular dish, combine spices with herbs and may be ground with water, vinegar or another liquid to make a paste or 'wet masala.' In some cases nuts, coconut, even onion or garlic may be added. The flavors may be balanced to create a harmonious blend, or a single flavor may be emphasized as in a 'cardamom masala' or a 'coriander masala.' To release its flavors, a masala is usually cooked--separately or with other ingredients--before the appropriate meat, fish or other food is added to the pan."



Garam Masala

A few notes: Getting the seeds out of each cardamom pod takes a long time. Get a helper. I used a coffee grinder to blend everything and I thought it worked perfectly getting it to a fine powder.

To make 1 1/2 cups

5 three inch pieces cinnamon stick
1 cup whole cardamom pods, preferably green cardamoms
1/2 c whole cloves
1/2 c whole cumin seeds
1/2 c whole coriander seeds
1/2 c whole black peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 200F. Spread the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cumin, coriander and peppercorns in one layer in a large shallow roasting pan. Roast on bottom shelf of the oven for 30 minutes, stirring and turning the mixture two or three times with a large spoon. Do not let the spices brown.
Break open the cardamom pods between your fingers or place them one at a time on a flat surface and press down on the pod with the ball of your thumb to snap it open. Pull the pod away form the seeds inside and discard it. Set the seeds aside. Place the roasted cinnamon sticks between the two layers of a folded linen towel and pound them with a rolling pin or a kitchen mallet until they are finely crushed.
Combine the cardamom seeds, crushed cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and peppercorns in a small pan or bowl and stir them together until they are well mixed. Grind spices a cup or so at a time by pouring them into the jar of an electric blender (or coffee grinder) and blending at high speed for 2 or 3 minutes, until they are completely pulverized and become a smooth powder. If the machine clogs and stops, turn it off, stir the spices once or twice, then continue blending. As each cupful of spices is ground, transfer it to a jar or bottle with a tightly fitting lid.

Garam masala may be stored at room temperature in an airtight container, and will retain its full flavor for 5 or 6 months.

Mattar Pannir

cheese
2 quarts whole milk
1/2 c unflavored yoghurt
2 Tbsp fresh strained lemon juice

peas
5 Tbsp ghee
2 Tbsp scraped, finely chopped fresh ginger root
1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 c finely chopped onions
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp ground hot red pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp garam masala
2 c finely chopped fresh tomatoes
1 1/2 c fresh green peas or 1 10-oz package frozen peas, defrosted
1 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

Prepare the cheese in the following fashion: In a heavy 3- to 4-quart saucepan, bring the milk to a boil over high heat. As soon as the foam begins to rise, remove the pan from the heat and gently but thoroughly stir in the yoghurt and lemon juice. The curds will begin to solidify immediately and separate from the liquid whey. Pour the entire contents of the pan into a large sieve set over a bowl and lined with a double thickness of cheesecloth. Let the curds drain undisturbed until the cloth is cool enough to handle. Then wrap the cloth tightly around the curds and wring it vigorously to squeeze out all the excess liquid. Reserve 1 cup of the whey in the bowl and discard the rest. Place the cheese, still wrapped in cheesecloth, on a cutting board and set another board or large flat-bottomed skillet on top of it. Weight the top with canned foods, flatirons, heavy pots or the like, weighing in all about 15 pounds, and let it rest in this fashion at room temperature for 6 to 8 hours, or until the cheese is firm and compact. Unwrap the cheese, cut it into 1/2 inch cubes, cover with wax paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to use. (There should be about 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cheese cubes.)
To prepare the cheese and peas, heat the ghee in a heavy 10 to 12-inch skillet until a drop of water flicked into it splutters instantly. Add the cheese cubes and fry them for 4 or 5 minutes, turning the cubes about gently but constantly with a slotted spoon until they are golden brown on all sides. As they brown, transfer the cubes of cheese to a plate.
Add the ginger and garlic to the ghee remaining in the skillet and, stirring constantly, fry for 30 seconds. Add the onions and salt and, stirring occasionally, continue to fry for 7 or 8 minutes, or until the onions are soft and golden brown. Watch carefully for any signs of burning and regulate the heat accordingly.
Stir in 1/4 cup of the whey, then add the turmeric, red pepper, ground coriander and garam masala. When they are well blended, stir in the remaining 3/4 cup whey and the tomatoes, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer partially covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the peas and taste for seasoning. if the gravy has too acid a flavor add up to 1 teaspoon sugar.
Remove the cover and, stirring occasionally, cook for 3 minutes. Then add the cheese cubes and one tablespoon of the fresh coriander, cover the skillet tightly, and simmer over low heat for 10 to 20 minutes, or longer if you are using fresh peas and they are not yet tender.
To serve, transfer the entire contents of the pan to a heated bowl or deep platter and garnish the top with the remaining two tablespoons of chopped fresh coriander.

Super American Cheesecake

In Spain I would always use ingredients like lemons, rose water, coffee, chocolate, vanilla beans or other ‘natural’ ingredients like that. So it was kind of a relief and a celebration of all things American and processed to make a deliciously rich and unnatural (in a good way) cheesecake. I went straight to the candy aisle, because what isn’t made better with the addition of candy? I site chocolate chip cookies with broken up Andes mints; it definitely gives them that extra something.

I have a weak spot for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I think many people do, except those unfortunate enough to be allergic to peanuts. But I went straight for these after little deliberation. I’m sure in the future there will be many more variations of my candy cheesecake (I’m seeing Twix and M&M’s, perhaps Junior Mints too). But Reese’s are not where my Americanized version ends. I needed more processed sugar. A topping of some sort, so then I headed to the ice cream aisle, because we all know that’s where you get your gooey, melty junk food. I would suggest butterscotch or caramel, and I found one that was a mixture of both (I’m not really sure what it contained, probably large amounts of sugar and corn syrup).

There’s not much else to this cheesecake, the natural goodness of the products pretty much do all the work for you.


Super American Cheesecake

crust
½ c butter (125 g)
1.5 box graham crackers (I just use regular Honey Maid)
pinch of salt

Crush cookies any way you can (beat them in a plastic bag, pulse them in a food processor), melt butter, and mix the two together with salt, then press on the bottom and up the sides of a springform pan. Bake at 170C/340F oven for 10 minutes.

cheesecake
1 bag Reese’s peanut butter cups (not sure how many are in there, or how many ounces it is)
1 jar butterscotch/caramel sauce
24 oz cream cheese
½ - ¾ c sugar
3 eggs

Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. While the crust is baking, slice each Reese’s into quarters. When you take the crust out, scatter them over the crust and they will slightly melt onto it. Reserve about ¼ cream cheese for the topping. With remaining cream cheese, beat in the sugar and eggs, with a pinch of salt. Pour this over the crust and Reese’s, and bake at 350F/180C for about 30 minutes, until top is set but the cake still wobbles. Heat up the jar of butterscotch sauce and mix well with the cream cheese you’ve saved. When it’s well incorporated, pour slowly over the top of the cheesecake, around the edges (not all straight in the center, it’s more likely to go straight through the bottom layer if you do that). And make sure and cover the whole surface. Put back into the oven for another 10-20 minutes, until the top layer is set. Fair warning: this stuff is sticky, and probably will slightly caramelize to the edge of your springform pan. But it’s all worth it in the end, and you’ll truly appreciate how good it is to be in the land of plenty.

Bar Mut

I’m getting very nostalgic and a bit sad too. I’m writing this from San Francisco (Yay! New city! New tastes and food to discover! New things to post about!) but I haven’t done that yet, as I’ve just recently arrived. What I have done is looked at In Praise of Sardine’s pictures of Barcelona and remembered all the food I left behind. Of course I miss my friends there, but the food. The food. So, soon enough there will be a new little section on the right hand column of the Dough Ball for San Francisco restaurants, but right now I have another addition to the Barcelona discoveries.

It took us a while to get into this place, if you try and go on any night, it’s packed, and it’s a small place, but doesn’t feel cramped, with the floor to ceiling windows that open up to busy Diagonal (a street that cuts across the city, for all you non-Barcelonans). You have a few options of seating arrangements: marble (or is it granite?) counter tops that wrap around the bar, or big, rotund dark wooden barrels that often serve as the tables in so many establishments in that city. On one wall wines with old tags around their bottle necks are encased in glass. The menu is displayed on a couple chalkboards hanging around the bar. Not too long, but there are sure to be plenty of things you’ll want. So we did finally get in one night, and kept going back. They even have a killer breakfast, which I made sure to have a few days before departing. Oh, did I forget to say what it’s called? Bar Mut, for those who don’t know it. I guess it’s a play on the Spanish for vermouth, vermút, because both are pronounced similarly (mut=moot).

Bar Mut is not a cheap place, but the quality is well worth the price. There’s so much more to be had than the few pictures I have here, and I only wish I had taken pictures of that breakfast (I’m sure it included a glass of cava or two, eggs, perhaps xistorra, beans stewed in pig fat, and all simply but beautifully presented). For dinner, I went with esqueixada to start. Esqueixada is a ‘salad’ of bacalao (salt cod), tomatoes, olives, and onions, all bathed in olive oil.

It’s very Catalan. I don’t normally gravitate towards a fish salad (in my mind, a salad should have greens in it), but consider it a take on tuna salad. It’s cold and refreshing, and goes back to a basic pairing of olive oil and salt that plays well off each other. I’ve had it at a variety of restaurants, and wanted to see how they did it up at Bar Mut. They served it as a timbale (a built-up cylinder), and they had a sort of tomato puree on the bottom, followed by bacalao, and then some tomatoes and sundried tomatoes. Bar Mut read my mind and surrounded it with greens and a little olive tapenade. Good stuff.
For some reason, I insisted on foie gras. I think I was still in my phase where I had to order it every time I went out if it was on the menu. Not only did I order foie gras, I ordered it with two fried eggs. Talk about greasy and heavy. I used to subsist off bread and pasta, but with food like this, you can’t fill up on bread and not order the plate of foie and eggs. What can I say? It was seared foie and eggs, and I smeared some on bread and I would do it over and over again, whenever I do go back to Bar Mut.
The next dish is not my doing, and I can’t remember what it was…but I’m sure it was enjoyed.
Then came some steak, mushrooms, and potatoes. Delicious mushrooms, tasty, tender beef…I’m looking at the picture now and wondering if it might be beef cheeks? I was a big fan of those in Spain. They fell apart with a fork like brisket, and always were dripping with a rich brown gravy. Not a complaint here.

That ends our brief reflection on Bar Mut’s food, I’ll see what I can do about getting more photos (and food) but I think sooner than that yall will be reading about what San Francisco has to offer. I think it’s promising.
I will leave you with one final picture of, let’s call it, ‘atmosphere’. I still don’t know what those little spray bottles are, the ones with a green mesh covering, that appear in restaurants every now and then. I will say that they are dangerous. If you do decide to spray them, make sure and aim for your dining partner, rather than the person at the table next to you. You can barely catch a glimpse in the top right corner of the chalkboard menu, items written in curly letters. And a simple flower in a label-less wine bottle.

Pizza Party

I have a little annual Christmas party I like to throw at my house, and I always try and come up with a theme. We’ve done the usual Tacky Sweater party, and then I tried a bitch’n’swap (google it if you’re unfamiliar). I’ve even considered having my friends come dressed as members from the first Christmas, you know, some Wise Women, and a donkey or two. That one has yet to happen.

This year I waited until the last second and a stroke of genius hit me: pizza party. Not greasy, orangey Domino’s (I do love that every once in a while), but some homemade dough, with white mozzarella and fragrant basil. And the best part is, it involves people. I would make the food and prepare the toppings, but they get to put together their own pizzas. Brilliant. If you get your oven hot enough, and if you have a pizza stone, you’re in a good position to make some stellar pizza. I was surprised at how good ours turned out. I turned to Jamie and Martha. We’re all on a first name basis (Oliver and Stewart, that is). For the tomato sauce, all you really need is canned tomatoes. I kind of melded together their two recipes to come up with mine. The toppings are the best part, because you can throw on whatever (I’m not a pizza nazi, although I stick to standard ingredients, I’ll allow you to put barbequed chicken on your pizza, as much as it grosses me out). And one more thing I must say, that I can’t avoid thinking about as I type out “pizza dough.” A shout out to the Iron Chef where the secret ingredient was pizza dough. That chairman is unbeatable in his enthusiasm and precise movements.



Pizza Dough
From Jamie’s Italy (you’ll see, as I would never call something ‘stodgy porridge’)
6-8 medium size thin pizzas

1 ¾ lb strong white bread flour (if my math's right, just over 793 grams, which is about 6 1/3 c)
1 ½ c fine ground semolina flour or strong white bread flour
1 Tbsp fine sea salt
¼ oz. envelope active dried yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
Just over 2 c warm water

Pile the flours and salt onto a clean surface and make a 7-inch well in the center. Add your yeast and sugar to the warm water, mix up with a fork and leave for a few minutes, then pour into the well. Using a fork and a circular movement, slowly bring in the flour from the inner edge of the well and mix into the water. It will look like stodgy porridge—continue to mix, bringing in all the flour. When the dough comes together and becomes too hard to mix with your fork, flour your hands and begin to pat it into a ball. Knead the dough by rolling it backward and forward, using your left hand to stretch the dough toward you and your right hand to push the dough away from you at the same time. Repeat this for 10 minutes, until you have a smooth, springy, soft dough.
This is where I divert from Jamie and follow Martha a bit. She lets it rise a lot more (two proofings of 40 minutes each, punching down in between). And Jamie just says to let it rest 15 minutes. So I found that you can do what you want with it and let it rise up to a few hours, if you punch it down once or twice in between. Make sure and oil the top of the dough and a bowl to let it rest in, then cover with plastic wrap, but not too tight, and then with a cloth over the bowl, trying to keep in a warmish place.
This was a good thing for me to prepare for a dinner party because I could have most things set up before hand. I divided the dough into 7 balls and rolled each one out, stacking them between layers of parchment paper until time to assemble.

Tomato Sauce

¼ c olive oil
2 cans (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
1 ½ tsp dried oregano
1 clove garlic, peeled and sliced
Salt and pepper

Heat a heavy saucepan over medium and all the olive oil. Then add the garlic, letting it fry but not turn dark brown or crispy. Add the oregano, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Turn down the heat and let cook for about 40 minutes, until the tomatoes get soft. Crush them with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Set aside.

The beauty is the easy prep. You can get everything ready before and just have it all laid out for your guests, whom I employed to make the pizzas. As far as toppings go, you’ll most certainly want to have fresh mozzarella, freshly grated parmesan, and basil. Those are the bare minimum, so I also had: ricotta, roasted garlic, salami, black olives, and grilled mushrooms and eggplant. It’s a lot of fun with everyone getting to create their own. So when it comes to cooking, if you have a pizza stone (which we do), all the better. Heat the oven to 500F with the pizza stone in it (if you don’t have a pizza stone, use a baking sheet instead). When it’s heated, remove the stone, take one of your rolled out crusts, placing it on the stone and top as desired. Typically we did tomato sauce followed by mozzarella and parmesan, then whatever else, but there was also a pizza Bianca in there (sans sauce). Pop in the oven for 8-12 minutes until cheese is bubbling and browning, and then slide it off onto a baking sheet to cool and cut, while you prepare another. Enjoy!

Toffifee

Every year for Christmas we get a box of toffee in the mail. It’s actually sent by someone, it doesn’t just randomly come, don’t worry. In spite of this annual happening, toffee has never meant Christmas for me. I’ve never been too crazy about it either. But let me let you in on a secret: it’s delicious. Really delicious. I mean the two main ingredients are butter and sugar, so although it’s stored in the freezer, it melts in your mouth. And it’s topped with chocolate for good measure. There’s not much to not like, and I wonder why I’m only now getting hooked.

My mom has always loved it, and I guess the mail was running slow this year, so I decided to make her some. I guess part of the reason I had shied away from it is because it required a candy thermometer. Just seeing that word in recipes means that there’s going to need to be a lot of whisking involved and extreme focus, not a degree overcooked. That’s slightly intimidating. Something I learned after making this recipe was candy thermometers are great. There’s no guess work. You won’t take the cake out of the oven underdone. It tells you exactly when it’s done. You do have to stir like crazy, but that just gives you a little more muscle.

I found a recipe that got really good reviews so I gave it a try, but just a half batch incase something went awry. It didn’t. Actually it turned out great, so great I made another full batch a few days later. The first time I only used almonds, and the second time I used almonds and pistachios, although you couldn’t really notice the pistachios, they always add a striking color. My one complaint and I’m still not sure the explanation for this is that the second time I made it, upon breaking the toffee into pieces, the chocolate layer on top wouldn’t stick, so I would in effect break off a piece of toffee and break it from chocolate. To get the full effect, you’d have to take a piece of chocolate and hold it on top of the bottom layer to enjoy your toffee. I had no problems with this the first time, I’m wondering if I spread the chocolate on too thick. I guess I’ll have to wait and try again, with a little less chocolate. I think you could also make this with any kind of nut, but almonds worked perfectly.

And one last thing, after spreading the chocolate on, I had some ground almond praline I had made that I sprinkled on top, for appearance’s sake of course.


Almond and Pistachio Toffee
from epicurious.com

1 c chopped almonds, skins on and toasted
1 c chopped pistachios, toasted
1 lb. (4 sticks) unsalted butter
2 c sugar
2 Tb water
pinch of salt
7-8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips

Butter a baking sheet and set aside. In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, stir together the butter, sugar, water and salt. Until everything is melted together, you don’t need to keep your eye on it at all times, but once it does, get ready to whisk. Get out your candy thermometer and whisk together constantly until it reaches 300F. This actually takes a long time, you’ll watch the color change to a dark camel, but you don’t want it to burn to the bottom so you need to stir continually. When it does reach 300F, take off the heat and stir in the nuts, then pour immediately into the buttered baking sheet. Once it’s spread out, pour the chocolate over it, and after a minute or two it should start melting. Take a spatula and spread the chocolate to cover every bit of toffee. If you do have bits of praline (recipe follows), you can sprinkle that on. Put in the freezer and let harden for at least 30 minutes before eating, then store in the freezer.

Almond Praline

1 ½ c sugar
1 c almond

Grease a baking pan, or line with foil. In a small saucepan, heat sugar on medium heat and stir until melted. Add almonds and continue to cook, without stirring but swirling instead, until the sugar is deep golden. Pour into the pan, let cool and then pulse in a food processor until in a fine powder. Store in an airtight container.

New York

New York is an obvious and inevitable choice for anyone’s list of favorite cities to eat in. It should have been in mine before Rome or Sevilla or any of those, but proximity from Barcelona gave way to European cities. I’ve been to New York more times than I can count on two hands, probably because my sister lived there for the past five years. But on this most recent trip, I visited some pretty touristy restaurants that I had never been to before, because there are some you need to check off your list at some point. I have some favorites, that I always try and go back to when I’m in Manhattan, but it’s always a toss up when you want to try new places, given that there are about a jillion restaurants on the island. And as it was a family trip, there had to be the requisite ‘nice’ restaurant. Nice translating to upscale, expensive, press-worthy. I’ll save this one for the last because there are many pictures but not much description (explained later).

In the months before going, I had seen a show on the Travel Channel where they talk about the Brooklyn Ballpark food. First I must tell you, I was staying in Brooklyn, and second, I try never to eat Mexican food outside of Texas or Mexico. So I heard about this very authentic Latin food provided by people who come to watch the soccer games on Saturdays and prepare food from their native countries, be it El Salvador or Peru. I was willing to try, and wanted to, since it wasn't strictly Mexican, but many other cuisines I hadn't tried. As I researched more and read more articles, I found that they were almost not allowed to come back by the Health Department and had to undergo changes to abide by the guidelines and codes. I’ve heard that this has dwindled the vendors' numbers and the crowds of hungry people, but I still wanted to see what the fuss was about. So one Saturday morning, pre-matinee theater, I went down with my sister and it was not nearly as crowded as I had imagined. A few trailers parked along the block, with posters outside each advertising their food. I went for a pupusa, a Salvadorian dish. I had never had one, and wanted to try it.

It’s like thick corn cake stuffed with cheese and meat (mine was pork) and served with pickled cabbage. It was good and greasy, but mostly corn cake and I prefer mine to be heavier on the stuffing and lighter on the tortilla-bit. We got a huarache, a large Mexican burrito, that strangely enough you don’t see in Austin. Also got an order of chicharrones, or fried pork with the bone on. These are always delicious but very fatty, and only advised for those who don’t mind biting it off the bone and getting their fingers a little messy. For dessert? Mango with lime juice and chili powder. Would’ve been great if the mango was a little riper, but they had all kinds of fresh juices, which I like to see. My sister’s dessert was corn on the cob slathered in mayonnaise. I have it pictured here, and from that you’ll get as much as I did because I can’t stand mayonnaise, so do what you will with it. The down side of going out here is it’s kinda out in the middle of nowhere Brooklyn, and if you go, you’re going for the food because there’s not much else around.

I hope I don’t loose all credibility here as someone who likes to delve into something different (because I do) but I’ve got to get my cupcake fix when in New York. And I’m not talking about Magnolia, although this is comparable. Actually, Billy used to work at Magnolia, and that’s where this Chelsea bakery gets its namesake: Billy’s. Something about the buttercream is magical, I can’t recreate it at home even with all the cookbooks. It’s not too sugary, doesn’t taste like butter, but is a perfect compliment to the small cupcake. And it looks so much cuter in those pastel Easter-egg colors. I am a chocolate lover hands down, but I can’t peel myself away from the white cupcake with vanilla buttercream. That will make you smile.

The last time I was in New York my sister and I were debating between Blue Hill and Gramercy Tavern. We went with Blue Hill. If you haven’t heard of it, google it and no doubt you’ll find plenty of reading material. This time, I wanted to try Gramercy Tavern. There are two rooms, one is the dining room and you get a choice of tasting menues, and the other is off the tavern room which is more casual and from an a la carte menu; my family did this for our last night. To sum it up before I tell you what we had, the space was warm and classic, it was busy enough to have a nice low buzz on a Sunday night but not too loud. The upper walls were painted with bright images of fruit and vegetables, somewhat abstract. It was very comfortable while still fancy. None of us were very hungry, which worked out fine since we weren’t doing the tasting menu. I had Jerusalem artichoke soup, which was just enough for me (I would show you, but it did not photograph well, as it was a light yellow/cream color served in a white bowl).My sister had a beet salad with mixed greens, Grana Padano and lemon vinaigrette, and my mom had some sort of fish (I do love online menus, but I can't find a dish that resembles hers on the menus) with corn. Everyone liked what they got, but the real kicker was the dessert. We all split this chocolate pudding with salted caramel, vanilla bean whipped cream, and brioche croutons. It slightly reminded me of a dish I learned about in Spain that was a simple bread with chocolate, olive oil, and salt. This was delicious, especially with the salted caramel. It was simple but nicely presented.

Here comes the quintessential tourist destination part of my latest New York trip: Katz’s. I had actually made it inside the building on a different visit, but a slight disagreement prevented us from eating there, but that’s all in the past. The point of Katz’s is the sandwiches are huge, packed full of meat. Not as high as some of the deli’s in New York, but it’s not a slice or two of turkey. It’s your corned beef or pastrami or brisket (although to me, this is pure Texas barbeque), rye, side of pickles. It’s a weird process at Katz’s; you walk in and they give each customer and ticket that you have to return when you leave, whether you buy something or not, and if you lose it, it’s $50. It has nothing to do with line order, so go ahead to the shortest one. And if you tip or they’re nice, you’ll get a helper that gives you a little sample of some juicy meat. They also have all sorts of other Jewish food, matzah ball soup, knishes (I don’t really know my Jewish food, unfortunately). We stuck to a Reuben with housemade Thousand Island dressing and cheese, but instead of corned beef, pastrami. Although there’s no shortage of meat and it’s delicious, the sandwich depends on the dressing which adds so much flavor, without which you’d have a big hunk of meat and some bread. Be sure and get extra dressing, because it brings everything together and it really does make it live up to the New York deli experience. Lastly I have our meal that I insisted on, after having eaten the best of Spain at Mugaritz, I wanted to see what New York had to offer because I had yet to try a tasting menu in the States. After researching and already having some restaurants knocked off the list (my family had already been to a few like Le Bernardin), I decided on Jean Georges. I put on my pretty shoes and shiny dress and into the cab we hopped for our night on the town. Luckily, they had a couple different tasting menus, one of Jean Georges specialties, or what he’s known for, and the other of seasonal dishes that change. So with four people, we did half and half. There was wine involved, and I always intend to leave with a copy of the menu, but in a haze of lobster, chocolate, legs, and eggs, it must have slipped my mind. But I think I might’ve gotten lucky because on their website they have both the menus of Jean Georges signature dishes and the autumn menu, so I’m taking their word for it and gonna give you the photos and the accompanying menu. I’ll make my opinions known now: if you have the money and are up for a lot of food, try Jean Georges. I can’t compare it to other New York fine-dining, but we were impressed with all kind of tasty, well-thought out dishes, and not overly-bothered by the waiters. There was a plethora of food, so go hungry, and if nothing else, it was an experience. We all got an amuse bouche. And now I'll start the Autumn Menu:Egg Toast, Caviar and Dill. Kanpachi Sashimi, Sherry Vinaigrette and Toasted Pecans. Nishiki Risotto with Porcini Marmelade and Five Herbs. Crispy Black Bass, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Spiced Apple Jus. Maine Lobster and Potato Gnocchi, Smoked Butter and Pickled Chilies. Roasted Venison, Quince-Madeira Condiment, Broccoli Raab and Cabrales Foam (although looking at the picture now, the broccoli raab and cabrales foam seem to be noticeably absent. I'm not sure what the substitute was). Signature Dish Menu. Egg Caviar. Sea Scallops, Caramelized Cauliflower, Caper-Raisin Emulsion. Young Garlic Soup with Thyme, Sauteed Frog Legs. Turbot with Chateau Chalon Sauce. Lobster Tartine, Lemongrass and Fenugreek Broth, Pea Shoots. Broiled Squab, Onion Compote, Corn Pancake with Foie Gras. I will add that the desserts were themed, for example you could pick caramel, or chocolate, or bread or some flavor or ingredient and you would get a large platter divided, with four desserts all a different take on the theme. I got chocolate, and this included: Jean Georges Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. Aerated Chocolate Sponge, Gooseberries, Whiskey, Walnuts. Warm Chocolate Gnocchi, Grapefruit, Gianduja, Basil. Old Fashioned Chocolate Egg Cream. We also got caramel. Vanilla Soda, Liquid Caramel Sphere. Chocolate Pop, Coffee-Cardamom Ice Cream. Caramel Curd, Dehydrated Sponge, Roasted Pineapple Sorbet. Warm Caramel Tart, Crispy Olive-Hazelnut Praline, Caramelized Bacon.Lastly came the petit fours, and then we were sent home with a little bag of chocolate truffles.

I don’t think I need to draw any conclusions on eating in New York. It should be done, more than once. But if you only get once, choose wisely and do your research because who knows how many restaurants are jam packed into that tiny island.

I do need to put in my two cents on restaurants that I didn't get the chance to eat at this time, but I love and am looking forward to my return. The first is Fatty Crab, a tiny, heaving Malaysian restaurant in the West Village. It's a tiny space full of people enjoying pork belly sandwiches or waiting to enjoy them, and you want to be a part of it.

There's also a cute little place on the Upper West Side, and once again, I don't want to lose my credibility as a go-to for suggestions, but this place was featured in a film whose name will remain annonymous. Anyways, they utilize every inch of space inside Cafe Lalo, even having to move the surrounding tables to get guests into their seats. But they've got glass cases packed full of desserts, and a menu reveals even more that you can't see, as well as savory food and sweet drinks (I'm remembering hot chocolates involving liqueurs). Great place to meet on a cold night for a big piece of cake.

Also try and stop by Chelsea Market. It's an indoor market of different specialty shops, including a bakery, soup store, produce shop, Italian market, wine store, and more. You can get yourself a Fat Witch brownie or sit down to lunch.

Savory Tart

This is one of the best savory tarts ever. It’s got goat cheese, mushrooms, leeks, and garlic, which are all ingredients for goodness. This is actually a combination of two tarts I found from epicurious.com because I couldn’t decide between the two and knew I wanted goat cheese and mushrooms. The leeks were actually an afterthought, and the one I have pictured here was made with green onions because leeks were unavailable. I think this tart is tasty comfort food for the fall or winter, but also works anytime of year. Not much else to say, make it now and you’ll see what I’m talking about.



Goat Cheese, Mushroom, and Leek Tart

crust
1 ½ c flour
¼ tsp salt
¾ (1 ½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter
¼ c ice water

filling
1 ½ c whipping cream
5 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 large egg
¼ tsp salt

1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz button mushrooms
2-3 leeks (can substitute 6-8 green onions)

4 oz soft fresh goat cheese, room temperature

To make the crust, blend flour and salt, then add butter and with a pastry cutter mix until in crumbs. Add ice water, and mix with a fork or your hands until clumps form. Gather dough into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic, then chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll out dough on a floured surface into a large circle, then press into a 9-inch tart pan. Trim off excess dough. Line crust with foil and fill with beans or coins or some sort of pie weights. Bake until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans, then bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool, but leave the oven on.
Now for the filling, bring the cream and garlic to boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Watch carefully: remember when cream boils it bubbles and will boil over. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until it’s reduced to about 1 cup, whisking occasionally, for about 15 minutes. Cool and puree in a processor. Then blend in egg and salt.
While you’re letting the cream cool, you can prepare the mushrooms and leeks. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add leeks and let soften for about 8-10 minutes, then add the mushrooms and continue to sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Put the tart pan on a baking sheet in case cream spills over. Finally, spread goat cheese over the bottom of the crust. Spoon mushrooms and leeks over, then pour the cream filling on top of everything. Bake until the filling is set, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.